Today was quite possibly the most important day throughout both of my lives. For today would be the day of my awakening!
We'd arrived in Treyvol yesterday evening, and I'm having a hard time thinking of Treyvol as just a medium-sized town to be honest. If this were a video-game this place would likely be considered the capital, and even amongst cities and towns I'd visited back on earth the population seemed rather dense. I wondered just how expansive the empire was, it had taken us over a year to scout the southeastern border of it after all. The architecture of settlements nearer to the border where we'd been previously looking for dungeons could have been considered medieval, cottages and log buildings clearly built by non-magical means, which makes sense considering the lack of acess to an awakening stone. Treyvol however clearly had no such constraints with most of it's structures easily dwarfing any I'd seen in this world so far, what was strange was how the materials used to build seemed to just meld together without a clear divide between them, glass led directly into supporting walls without any sort of seam to be seen. It was as if the buildings were 3D printed as a whole unit rather than constructed piece by piece, leading to a fairly uniform design throughout the town. I wondered if this was just the preferred style or if perhaps Treyvol's development was supplemented by someone wealthy in power in an attempt to further the development along the southeastern edge of the empire.
I was getting distracted though, currently I was struggling to walk alongside my mother on our way from the inn we'd stayed at last night towards the local adventurer's guild which housed the awakening stone I'd be using today. Father had gone on ahead to make sure they'd be ready for us, other places had awakening stones as well but I suppose due to my parents being adventurers it made sense that this was where we'd go. "Mama how do I awaken?" I ask trying not to sound as nervous as I felt, I was quite anxious about something going wrong and I vaguely remembered when I'd first been born that something had prevented my mana stat from being increased.
"It's as simple as touching your hand to the awakening stone and waiting Syl, you don't have to be nervous," she pats my head before picking me up and looking at me, "I'll be right there with you as well, ok?"
"What happens if I don't have magic?" and I can see she's briefly taken aback by my question before she continues to walk, I guess it's not something people who likely take magic for granted would even consider.
"As far as I know that's impossible, but even if it wasn't, didn't you say when you closed your eyes and focused that you could sense your dad and I? That already proves that you likely have an above average capacity for mana Syl, if anything you could be even more powerful than me one day." She looks thoughtful for a moment, before winking at me "I expect you to take care of your father and I if that's the case."
Deciding it was too early to have that talk, my parents looking to be in their twenties. I instead wonder if magical talent is something that's inherited? And if so, would that apply to me since I'd been reincarnated? As we rounded the corner and the Adventurer's Guild came into sight I decided to put my worries behind me for now. The Guild was one of the few buildings that truly stood out compared to the majority of buildings that seemed as if they were built from a set of templates, it looked like a mix between some fantasy tavern, an old church, and a private school. The strange mix somehow fit though, like how buildings downtown on earth were often multipurpose in nature, it served to cement the idea that this building was built to handle all that would be expected of it from adventurers. From areas where one could train or practice, to spaces to relax, eat, and drink amongst friends and comrades, then there were more office-like spaces presumably for compiling information on various quests, or even if you were looking to post your own quest I suppose, and manage the subsequent rewards necessary for their completion. There were areas for teaching and demonstrations as well which I hadn't considered before, but it seemed senseable that adventurers receive what I guess would be considered as a tertiary education on the situations they'd likely find themselves in over the course of their adventuring careers.
"Hello, I'm professor Syl and this is dungeoneering 101. If you misbehave in my class I'll teleport you naked into the bathroom." I snicker at my own internal monologue, envisioning the days where I'm a renowned adventurer who's asked to impart my wisdom onto others who're less capable than me.
"Are you ready Syl?" Mother asks, bringing my focus back on what we were here for, despite having a new body I still struggled with ADHD it seemed; I hadn't even noticed how the building seemed strangely empty despite it's size, too absorbed in my other thoughts as I was. "Your father will come to get you once we're done, OK?"
"Mhmm," I nod and try to give my most confident looking smile as she sets me down, although judging by her now concerned expression I likely looked in pain. "I'm ready mama!"
As I looked through the door my mother opened, I found myself in spherical room with a walkway leading straight through the center and a pure white crystal standing in the center at about 210cm in height emitting a faint glow. After a brief pause to make sure no telepathic man in a wheelchair would show up, I followed my mother inside. "So I just touch it?" I ask once more fighting against my anxiety, my mother confirms my question with a nod and a smile. "Alright, well here goes nothing then," I think before my hand makes contact with the crystal and everything fades to black.
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Rone's POV:
"Alright everyone, today is both my daughter's Awakening and her second birthday," I say glancing around at the assorted adventurers and staff of the Treyvol Adventurer's Guild. "Here in a minute I'll go and get her after her awakening, and teach her one of the most basic forms of magic [Create Water]. I want everyone to behave and act supportive of my daughter, don't laugh at her if she fails to cast on her first try. She's been really nervous about awakening for some time now."
"Relax Rone, yer wee lass is probably better off with us than she's been with you this whole time." An especially muscled dwarf known only as Bear says in response, eliciting laughter from around the room. "Don't worry Rone, 'The Blazing Soul Reaper' I hardly think any of us here have a more infamous reputation than you 'cept perhaps yer wife." Bear continues, this time eliciting some gasps from a couple of the presumably newer adventurers who'd likely only heard of my wife and I in stories unitl now.
"Haha, you may be right Bear. I'll trust you all to leave a good impression then, also it's just 'The Blaze Sword' now, at least as far as my daughter knows. This far from the Capital though, just calling us by name like anyone else is fine, we're not here on business or to make an impression so titles are too stiff. Today is just for my daughters benefit." with that said I excused myself to go collect our little guest of honor, excited to finally see her get to use the magic she'd been looking forwards to for so long.
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Name: Syllara Illionan Current Title: Pottymouth (no bonuses) Stats: Affinities: Strength: 4(+1) Air: 1 (+10%) Dexterity: 4(+1) Water: 1 (+10%) Constitution: 8(+1) Earth: 1 (+10%) Intelligence: 16(+1) Fire: 1 (+10%) Wisdom: 15(+1) Light: 1 (+10%) Charisma: 11(+1) Dark: 1 (+10%) Mana: 999(???) ???: 11(max) (+220%) Total Points: 1,057 Total Affinity Bonus: 280% Unspent Points: 1 Mana Stat Bonus: 99.9% Level: 21 Total Magic Bonus: 379.9%
Fixing. . .
Fixed.
Affinity "???" now designated as unique to entity SI-51903887642
"Well that was strange," I thought, did I have like a serial number within the system or something? And how was I supposed to figure out what an affinity dubbed as nothing more than "???" could be, maybe a combination of other affinities? But from what little I knew that mother had explained, elements formed through a combination of the others weren't listed, such as mother's Lightning which was comprised of Air and Light. It was strange how I could feel the magic stirring inside of me now, like it'd always been there but I'd just been unable to notice it until the awakening crystal brought it into focus. I'd done it though! I'd finally been awakened! And if my 999 mana stat, which had seemingly been boosted by my mystery affinity, was anything to go by then I must have been rather prodigiously talented. A 379.9% total bonus to my magical abilities seemed absurd, but maybe it wasn't that rare considering I was just a 2 year old. Perhaps other people were maxed out in at least one affinity or even more though? The rest of my stats seemed fairly typical for a childs body with the mind of an adult though, although the only thing I had to compare myself to at this point was my memories of DnD characters on earth.
I barely noticed my mother sputtering like a fish removed from water in the corner of the room as the light from the awakening crystal slowly faded away along with my displayed status screen before father came inside and scooped me up into his arms, "Syl I've got a surprise for you, are you ready to learn how to use your first bit of magic?"
Out of my line of sight now, neither I nor my father see as mother's eyes widen in panic, "Rone maybe we shouldn-"
"REALLY?? Yes, yes, yesyesyes!!!" I scream completely drowning out my mothers protest making father and I completely oblivious to what she'd been trying to say as he carries me out of the room laughing alongside my enthusiasm.
"Alright, the spell I'm going to teach you is a simple spell for creating a small amount of water, you could use it to refill a glass of water or even shoot it at someone to get them wet-" He winks at me misheviously, "-and even if you're affinity for water is zero, it should still be simple enough for you to cast and safer than starting with lightning or something more volatile that you probably have a higher affinity towards."
As he's carrying me he begins to explain the so-called water spell, which probably hardly qualifies as a spell to be honest. It's completely unstructured, just a basic emission of mana which likely is what makes it suitable in mothers' and his mind for a me to learn and practice. Father says it's just as simple as releasing a small amount of mana from my body while either being in contact with some already existing water and/or maintaining an idea of water in my mind. How convenient magic seems already, to be able to create basic elements from pracitcally nothing more than your imagination! I can only begin to imagine just what feats are possible to those who've reached the apex of spellcraft.
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"Do you think you're ready Syl? If you're nervous you can practice here first instead of trying to do it in front of everyone." He'd already let me know that his intention was to basically show me off in front of his adventurer buddies, which is maybe a bit irresponsible compared against my internal image of adventurers, my thoughts danced with the image of scarred men and women with serious expressions drinking and making inappropriate jokes as they reminisced about their most recent conquests. I snickered in my head thinking about the double implied meaning to conquests. Either way, I liked the sound of showing off my very own magic for the first time so I wasn't opposed to his plan.
"Yes papa!" I say as we began to walk into a room filled with an incredibly wide variety of adventurers and people who I assumed worked at the guild in a less violence prone capacity, "I'll show all your adventurer friends that Syl is the best."
"Oh? Big words fer such a wee little lass," what appears to be a Dwarf, if you combined your typical idea of a dwarf with some of the buffest body builders on earth that is, off to my right says as he gets up. "My name is Bear girly, an old friend of yer parents. I hope that you can back up those words of yours." He laughs and winks at me, and strangely enough I don't find him intimidating at all despite the fact that each of his legs are easily as thick as 2 of me standing side by side and his torso is completely bare of any clothing but covered almost entirely in tattoos of what I assume to be various runes and symbols which give the impression of being based off various mythical animals.
"If classes are a thing here I bet he's some sort of beserker," I think as I look up to him smiling, despite being a dwarf he's still significantly taller than I am, before introducing myself. "I'm Syllara, and I can, you'll see Mr. Bear!"
With the guantlet now thrown, I reach out to grab the small cup of water father has gotten for me from a nearby table before closing my eyes and scrunching up my face in intense concentration, "I'm gonna splash this big teddy bear so good, I hope I don't get a SuperSoaker title or something though." I think imagining myself as some sort of toddler shaped water gun, "ahh focus Syl, I can't get distracted so easily. My future as a grand, all-powerful mage starts here afterall!"
As I focused I began to feel the mana inside of my body, I imagined it slowly beginning to stir in preparation for my first spell, glacially slow and small at first before steadily increasing in size and in speed. I wanted to do my best to impress all these seasoned adventurers, this would be the very first time I ever cast magic, to me this could be considered as my first truly new experience in this world, and they were the ones who would bear witness to it. So I took my time, tuning out my surroundings and even the sounds of all the people around me, thinking of it like warming up before exercising I continued to stir up the mana within me until I could feel my mana permeating throughout my entire body signifying that I, was ready. . !
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Alianna's POV:
I mentally slapped myself, "It's too late now, I can already feel the mana gathering, foricbly dispersing it would probably cause more harm than just letting her continue." I sighed as I began to move even faster to get to the room where Syl and Rone were at, I'd spent too long shocked by her status screen to chase after them, but there was just too much to think about. A mana stat that could likely compete with a dragon's, my daughter was level 21 for fuck's sake off of just her stat points alone! Stats only equated towards a level every 50 points, it was already impressive that her other 6 stats would've bumped her up to level 1 on their own at her age, "what kind of 2 year old has a 15 in wisdom anyways?" but I hardly had time to worry about that considering her uknown affinity.
What could a maxed out affinity in an unknown element even entail? How would she even access it if it doesn't normally exist amongst the naturally appearing elements? Aside from the absurd boost it would provide to the rest of her magic just what was the power that she somehow had an affinity for? Things which the system had no name for were rare but not unheard of, as magic was pioneered and expanded upon, new spells and such were discovered on occasion and then either the person who discovered it or the system itself would come up with a name after a period of time. Those situations usually came about from leading mages in their respected fields though, people who's lives were dedicated to studying and pushing the bounds of what was previously thought unachievable in a specific school of magic.. not something that a toddler should have appear on their status screen. "The rest of her affinities being 1 is fairly rare as well, but at least that makes sense considering Rone's and my own. At least their only 1, didn't think I'd be glad she didn't inherit any of my tier 8 Air and Light affinity."
No matter what though, Syllara was our precious daughter. I couldn't afford the distraction right now, I strengthened my resolve as I continued to send lightning out around me shattering every window in the building as I ran past them, ignoring the sharp drain on my mana each time at the effort necessary to shatter hundreds of what must have been triple-enchanted and reinforced panes of glass. "Damn these buildings are all made to last now after what happened in the last war." The Adventurer Guild buildings were now meant to serve as a last line of defense of sorts for many towns and cities, granting adventurers and soldiers a defensable position to hopefully hole up in until reinforcements arrived if the rest of the city had already fallen. Normally a good thing but now it was slowing me down and putting extra strain on my mana reserves as I worked to make sure the building wasn't turned into a giant fishbowl of compressed water in the worst case scenario. I was nearly there though, just a handful of meters between me and the room my daughter was currently amassing mana in, I sighed again, "She probably would have just launched Bear through a window if Rone hadn't gotten it in her head that she needed to do her best to show off." I can't help but laugh at the idea of the stout dwarf who prided his strength above all else being sent flying like a ragdoll by a little girl.
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"~Create Water~!!" I yell out, opening my eyes as I feel my mana begin to drain to complete the spell. I had about 0.3s to wonder why everyone in the room had gathered in the corners in defensive positions, even going so far as to have several mages erect shields over everyone before water began to pour out of my hands with such pressure and volume that I was immediately launched out of the door where father and I had entered from. It was like I was one of the flood pipes at the bottom of a large dam, if someone somehow made a bottle rocket of that scale, and then strapped a toddler to it, the wall on the opposite end of the room where everyone had been in cratered from the pressure, cracks spreading outwards radially but still holding which served to further accelerate me in the opposite direction. Some corner of my mind wondered if I could make it to space had I been laying on my stomach instead of standing, "Why use a rocket when you can use a child? It's reusable and environmentally friendly." Truly my thoughts while under extreme duress are where I peak, I didn't have any more time to plot the development of a new space company though before I slammed into something, which thankfully was much softer than a wall. It seemed my own magic kept me safe from the pressure of the water shooting out of me, but I doubted that would be true if I slammed into a wall and I certainly wasn't looking to find out, I didn't even like pancakes under normal circumstances, fuck turning into one.
"Why won't it stop?!" I desperately cried out as I began to once again accelerate now pushing whoever was unlucky enough to be behind me along as well. I realized I had no idea how to get my mana back under control.
"Syl, you gotta calm down. Take deep breaths and try to stop any more of your mana from channeling into the spell. No matter what mama will protect you, ok?" said the person behind me who I now realized was my mother, although she sounds quite strained from the effort of slowing us down.
"I'm trying mama, I don't know how." I yell out turning to her, she's got one arm wrapped around me while the other is back behind her blowing a gale of air in the opposite direction. Thankfully it looks like the hall continues for a while, but as we were still accelerating despite her efforts I needed to do something before I crushed my mother and then myself once we did reach the end of it. I tried my best to calm down and take deep breaths, focusing on the same feeling I'd felt before casting, but now trying to do the opposite and lull my mana back to inactivity instead of agitating it inside of me, "If I warmed it up before, then I just need to try and cool it down now?"
Abruptly the temperature began to drop as the water pouring out began to freeze, reducing the pressure pushing us back significantly, but now I was just creating Ice instead of Water. It gave my mother some breathing room at least, as she was able to bring us to a complete stop with just her own strength now, but now we'd just be crushed slowly by ice instead if I didn't get it under control before the entire hall was filled. I was beginning to panic ever so slightly, "No one ever told me magic would be so hard to use properly. I don't want to die casting my very first spell, even if I reincarnate again I'll never get over the embarrassment."
"Syl look at me-" her chest heaving from the exertion she'd been under she smiles at me, "-see how I have to fight to get my breathing under control? It's similar with your mana. If you keep exerting yourself then you'll continue breathing harder and harder until eventually you collapse and if you don't try to rein in your mana then the spell will likely continue until you run out of mana. Or if you'd limited the mana that you gathered up before casting, then it would've stopped once it ran out of that mana." She patiently explains to me, motioning at me to follow along with her breathing as she steadies it and slows her heartrate back down.
I nod at her to show I understand, and mimic the deep consistent breaths she's taking. It doesn't seemt to be stopping the spell but at least it calms me down. She then takes her hands and places them against my back and I feel her channeling her own mana inside of me, presumably seeking to cut off my own and keep it inside of me. It begins to sting and burn the longer she continues though, "Mama, it hurts," I finally gasped out in pain, my vision blurring as tears fill my eyes.
"I know, I'm sorry." She kisses the back of my head, "Just a little more now, then we can go back and you can see everyone again. I think you've certainly made an impression."
Our combined laughter briefly fills the air punctuated by the occasional sniffle from me, "Is everyone ok?" "God I hope I haven't killed the first people I showed my magic to. I don't think I'd last long in jail."
"I'm sure they're all fine, several of them at least are quite strong. If anything they'll probably be telling tales of you to anyone that'll listen after this.. hopefully you don't wind up with some silly title because of it, funny as I'm sure they'd find it if you did. Rone already has enough silly titles, I don't need my daughter carrying on that particular legacy."
As mother's mana continued to course through me, finally getting my own under control I couldn't help but nervously chuckle as I glanced at the screen that'd appeared in front of me.
Congratulations! Due to your seemingly innate proficiency for distruction and mayhem, combined with overwhelming magical might, you have earned the rare title: "Natural Disaster"
Title Effects: Less intelligent animals and monsters will do their best to avoid you.
Would you like to set "Natural Disaster" as your default title?
Y/N
"The effect seems beneficial at least?" I thought before mentally selecting yes on the menu, pleased that it worked the way I thought it would and didn't necessitate physical interaction.
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Bear's POV:
"Y'know Rone, dwarves an' water don't mix. My kind makes their homes deep in the mountains, well above sea level." I say nervously glancing through the mage shield that's the only thing that kept us all safe and dry, "Some daughter ye got yerself, been a long time since I've seen such potential for widespread destruction. You sure she's yours though, thought neither you nor Ali had high Water affinity? Always did think she was too good for ye though, maybe she finally realized it to be true!" I loudly laugh alongside some others in our little bubble, Rone knows I'm just trying to lighten the atmosphere.
"Better be careful Rone, Ali could already handle you if she wanted. It seems your daughter is eager to prove herself capable of beating you into submission as well," another adventure barks out over his laughter as the water finally begins to rapidly drain through the broken windows and back out into the hall where Syl had been launched.
"Alianna must have managed to get the girls mana under control," I think looking over to Rone, seeing despite his laughter his hands are clenched in worry. "Go ahead Rone, I'll stall whoever comes to check on things. Although unfortunately there's a representative here from the capital this week which could cause some problems, and there's not much I can do in that case. You know their sort."
Rones mirthless laughter tell me he's well familiar with the snobbish asshats that tended to come from the capital. "Thanks Bear, once I've checked on my wife and daughter I'll handle it. I'll get a round of drinks for everyone later as well, if the bar hasn't been washed away." he says getting a cheer from everyone before he steps through the barrier and makes his way towards where his daughter and wife should be.
"What a story this'll be to tell, eh?" I wondered how many would even believe it, although her parents being who they are makes almost anything believable to be honest.
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"BANNED?! She's a 2 year old for fucks sake, you can't seriously think she's that big of a threat!" Father shouts at someone that I assume to be an important official of some sorts, although he currently looks like a half-drowned rat, "You can't just ban her from using magic and be done with it, how is she supposed to learn to control it??"
"I don't give a shit if she learns or not, as far as I'm concerned you're lucky I don't have you two imprisoned for even awakening the little demon! I was nearly drowned dammit!!" The official sputters out in a rage, before sealing my fate. "Let it be known that the one known as Syllara Illionan, daughter of Alianna and Rone Illionan, is henceforth BANNED from using magic until further notice!"
"Mama, what's gonna happen to me?" I ask fearing the worst, would I never get to use magic again? Sure it hadn't gone so well the first time, but that didn't stop me from wanting to learn. This pompous asshat couldn't just do this to me, could he?? Unfortunately he could.
"It'll be fine Syl, it just may be awhile before you get to learn to use magic. It honestly could've been a lot worse." She caresses my head doing her best to soothe my worries, and at this point I'm having a hard time staying awake. It's been an exhausting day, and being so young my body desperately needed sleep after everything that'd happened. So eventually sleep I did, my dreams filled with magic and mishap, wishing things had turned out differently, but compared to the world I'd lived in before which had no magic at all, for now just knowing the fact that I had such power would be enough for me.